• Zain Mehmood, Rabia Kanwar, Kaleem Ullah, Saqib Ali, Muhammad Aamir Aslam, Abdul Qadeer, Haiwad Gul, and Mohamed Hassanein Mahmoud.
• Faculty of Veterinary Science, Institute of Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2025 Feb 6.

BackgroundMethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are a major cause of hospital-acquired infections, exacerbated by increasing antibiotic resistance.AimThis study aimed to isolate bacteriophages targeting MRSA and evaluate their antimicrobial activity in combination with antibiotics.MethodsNasal samples from hospital staff (n = 50) were used to isolate MRSA strains, and sewage samples were processed for phage isolation using the double agar overlay technique. The microtitration plate method evaluated the synergistic effects of isolated phages and antibiotics.ResultsOut of 50 samples, 11 MRSA strains were positive, showing high resistance to multiple antibiotics, including oxacillin (95%), and vancomycin (85%). Phage zP-1, belonging to the Myoviridae family, exhibited > 90% lytic activity, stable across temperatures (20-50 °C) and pH (6-8). A statistically significant synergistic effect was observed at a MIC of 0.137 μg/ml for gentamicin (p-value 0.02).ConclusionThese findings suggest that phage-antibiotic synergy may offer a promising strategy to combat MRSA infections, warranting further in vivo studies to assess its clinical potential.© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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